Drag Race’s Jinkx Monsoon Details Her Villainous ‘Doctor Who’ Role

jinx monsoon already twice RuPaul’s Drag Race champion and a Broadway star, but now she can add “terrifying sci-fi villain” to her resume.

Monsoon, 36, will star as Maestro in the Friday, May 10 episode am a doctorAnd she had an absolute blast diving into the role.

Monsoon specifically explained, “As a character actor who likes to work in the absurd and the exaggerated, wanting to play a godlike demonic embodiment of music – I mean, roles like that don’t come around very often. ” us weekly next to that am a doctor First entry. “I have got to play some very good roles, but this one has everything in one character. So it was just a dream job. I still can’t believe I was asked to do this job. it was incredible.”

The character of Maestro was clearly not written for Monsoon, but the part has all the charm that made him a fan favorite and a two-time character. on the winner drag race, She entered the program after the audience Russell T Davis Attended one of his stage shows.

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“They watched my show Together Again, Again! … I play my ’80s self on this show that I wrote, and I’m playing a demonic version of myself,” Monsoon explained. We, “I think he saw something inside [there] He wanted for this villain. Some of the characters existed before me and some of them were added to incorporate my qualities.

monsoon is long time am a doctor fans, but she was especially thrilled to be on the show this season nakuti gatwa Taking over as the first openly LGBTQIA+ actor to play the Doctor. Monsoon’s character, Maestro, is also non-binary – and explicitly corrects another character in his pronouns during his first scene.

,am a doctor There’s always been a big queer fan base, and the fact that this season is really leaning into the underlying queerness that’s always been there am a doctorFeels like it’s a whole new iteration am a doctor It’s too much for the fan base,” Monsoon explained. We, “I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved in this season because I’ve been a fan of Russell’s writing for a long time, and I find his work so brilliant and influential.”

He added, “Now that it’s giving a new perspective to Nkuti as the Doctor and inviting people like me to play guest roles – that’s how we keep these things alive. We have to adopt new approaches because that’s what the audience wants. We want truth. We want authenticity. We want stories to have meaning because the artists telling the stories care and representation matters. It really makes everything better for everyone – everyone gets a chance to perform at their best.”

Maestro being non-binary was written into the script, and Monsoon believes that gender identity makes perfect sense for the character.

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“Why would any God care about gender? Why would any God follow the gender rules we make?” Monsoon asks. “They don’t care. And being asked to play a character who becomes a rebel like that? Like, ‘I don’t care about human standards and social norms. Why? Because I am more powerful than all of them. This is a strong message. Even though I was playing a villain, it’s a very strong message to send to your audience.

In addition to making a splash on Doctor Who, Monsoon is currently starring as Audrey little shop of horrors At the Westside Theater in New York City through May 26. she will also come back chicago Next Month as Matrona “Mother” Morton making her broadway debut In the role last year. When asked which role she plays more, Monsoon chose Mama — but she still loves Audrey.

“I feel like I don’t really identify with Audrey. “I’ve always loved the character, but I’ve always seen other women I know in Audrey,” she said. “So, I honestly really feel like I’m more in line with Mama Morton. I am the matriarch of my chosen family. And even though I’m not the oldest woman in my family, my mother and my aunts have largely disinherited me from being a matriarch. It’s an encanto situation.”

am a doctor Stream Fridays at 7PM ET on Disney+.